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The Timeline
Before Time *'Date Unknown:' The previous incarnation of the Universe collapses into a single point singularity. It remains in that state for an unknown and immeasurable amount of time. Circa 13,700,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' The "primal egg", the single point singularity composed of all matter in the universe, explodes in an event that will eventually be called the "Big Bang" by scientists on Earth. Circa 12,000,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **The Milky Way Galaxy forms. **The individual who later refers to himself as U'tua the Gardener comes into being, formed from raw energy and matter. U'tua is the first sentient being in the galaxy. Shortly after coming into being (relatively shortly, that is... the span is actually several million years) U'tua begins his search for other sentient beings. **The Transcendent Triad, a hive-mind individual in three bodies, comes into being. Like U'tua the Gardener, they formed from the basic stuff of the universe rather than having evolved on a planet. **The Old Ones, a race of alien "space gods" of great power and even greater malice, enter this dimension from somewhere outside. They begin their despoiling of the universe. **Within a few million years of each other, the H'ch'wee, Lada, Essver, I'thm, P!k, Mmesti, Krang, and Pua (collectively referred to by later civilizations as the Progenitor Races) evolve, build technological societies, discover space flight, and begin exploring the Milky Way Galaxy. **The Lada Civil War begins. Lasting for nearly two hundred years, the war destroys almost every Lada colony as the species annihilates itself in a blaze of thermonuclear destruction. Only a few thousand individual Lada survive, and within three centuries after the ending of the war, all the descendants of the survivors are themselves dead. The entire lifespan of the species is just short of two million years. **U'tua the Gardener brings representatives of the Progenitor Races together on a planet near the Galactic core. Noting that since the rise of the now-extinct Lada to civilization, no new sentient races have evolved, U'tua proposes a plan to spread the seeds of intelligent life across the Galaxy. **The P!k begin exploring the Milky Way in "garden ships". When they find a planet with life, they experiment on likely species in an effort to foster the eventual evolultion of a sentient race. Circa 8,000,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' The Pua complete the construction of a galaxy-wide network of hyperspatial "corridors" that will one day be referred to as "the tramway" by most spacefaring races who achieve hyperspatial travel. This network of artificial wormholes allows starships to travel nearly anywhere in the Galaxy. Long after the Pua retreat from the Milky Way, the tramway will continue to be used by several other races. Circa 4,600,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **Sol, the star that will one day be known by people on Earth as "the Sun", ignites, beginning the formation of the Terran solar system. Circa 3,500,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **The planet Earth forms from masses of gas, dust, and rock. **Nearly a million years after it's initial formation, a Mars-sized planet formed close to Earth orbit strikes the Earth head-on. The impact causes the newly formed Earth to shatter into a cloud debris (the Mars-sized planet is likewise destroyed as well) and destroying the nascent life that had just begun to form on the planet. Most of the debris from the impact collapses to reform a larger, denser Earth, but a small portion of it remains in orbit. This small portion eventually aggregates into Earth's moon. **The Chirpsthritha colonize their home solar system, and then spread to nearby stars using slower-than-light drives. After nearly two thousand years as an interstellar species, the Chirpsthritha discover the Pua Hyperspatial Tramway and begin to spread their trading empire across the Galaxy using faster-than-light ships. **The Old Ones reach the Earth and claim it as their own. They use it as a base from which to spread their influence and power throughout nearby regions of the Milky Way Galaxy. **The Old Ones cause anaerobic life to form on Earth. Within a hundred million years, a complex ecosystem of anaerobic life, some of which is sentient, is present on Earth. **A series of wars begin with the Old Ones on one side and U'tua the Gardener, war-fleets of five of the Progenitor Races, and at least thirty of the Progenitor's more advanced client species, on the other. Eighteen centuries of constant warfare culminates in the banishment and imprisonment of the Old Ones to places outside the universe. The victory comes at a great price, as the entire H'ch'wee and Krang species, along with every member of their various participating client species) are exterminated in the fighting. Unknown to the victors, a small number of servants of the Old Ones survive on Earth. They go into hiding deep underground. Circa 3,000,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **U'tua the Gardener decides to create a corps of warriors who will guard the universe against the corruptive forces of beings like the Old Ones and fight such lesser evils that might arise. To that end, he creates a weapon system by sacrificing a part of his own being to be it's power source. **U'tua the Gardener recruits a being named Taa, from a planet called Zilliphi by it's native population, to be the first of the new corps of Guardsmen. Circa 2,000,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **A civilization of technologically proficient beings calling themselves the /thr arises in the oceans of Earth. The civilization builds floating cities in Earth's primordial oceans, and begins to send mechanical probes into the atmosphere, and then later into outer space. **A Chirpsthritha trading ship discovers and trades with the /thr civilization on Earth. **Stromalites (blue-green algae) evolve on the surface of Earth's oceans. These photosynthetic, single-celled plants produce oxygen as a waste product. Within twelve thousand years, the algae has spread to all parts of Earth's watery surface, spilling tons of oxygen into the atmosphere each year. The high percentage of iron dissolved in Earth's oceans prevents the immediate build-up of toxic levels of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, but within a hundred thousand years, the iron is depleted. Oxygen, which is toxic to nearly every species of life on Earth at this point in history, begins to build to catastrophic levels. A global disaster begins, resulting in the extinction of nearly all life on Earth. **The Chirpsthritha rescue the last ninety thousand /thr from Earth, taking them to a nearby planet with conditions similar to primordial Earth. Unfortunately, differences in biorhythm cycles cause the /thr to go extinct. On Earth, the last of the floating /thr cities falls prey to rust, breaks up, and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Except in rare and unusual environments, such as the methane-rich brine pools found at the bottom of the oceanic abyssal plains and deep geothermal vents, or in land-bound alkali geysers on the surface and the very crust of the planet itself, Earth has been scoured of anaerobic life. Species capable of processing oxygen begin evolving and spreading across the planet. Circa 900,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' U'tua the Gardener retreats beyond the Galactic Rim, leaving his Guardsmen to supervise themselves and protect the galaxy. Circa 65,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **A P!k garden ship lands on Earth and performs an investigation of its native life forms. The P!k conclude that while the highest order of life on the planet had reached its full potential and would never become sentient, some of the lesser species still had the potential to do so. **The P!k cause a nickel-iron asteroid some 8 kilometers in diameter to strike the Earth near what will one day be the Yucatan Peninsula. Enough dirt and ash is thrown into the upper atmosphere to block 76% of all incoming sunlight from reaching the surface. This triggers the extinction of the dinosaurs and the end of the Mesozoic Era. The P!k leave Earth's solar system with plans on returning once a new set of dominant species emerge. Circa 13,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **''Pierolapithecus catelaunicus'', the last common primate ancestor species of all of the Hominidae genera (humans, gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees, and orangutans) arises in what is now Spain. **The ancestors of the orangutans speciate from the Homininae (the common ancestors of the humans, bonobos, gorillas, and chimpanzees). Circa 10,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' The ancestors of the gorillas speciate from the Hominini (the common ancestors of the humans, bonobos, and chimpanzees). Circa 7,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **The ancestors of chimpanzees and bonobos speciate from the Hominina (the earliest ancestors fo the humans). **''Orrorin tugenensis'', the "mother species" to the entire line of human evolution, arises in Africa. Circa 5,000,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **A P!k garden ship returns to Earth and begins experimenting with a handful of Terran species, including the ancestors of modern apes, dogs, elephants, and bears. Their efforts eventually concentrate on the early apes and humans, with the intention of giving these species a boost on the path to eventual sentience. **An individual Orrorin tugenensis is captured by the P!k and force-evolved to sentience. The newly sapient creature is contained in an automated laboratory, continually "adjusted", and used as a test-animal for the P!k developmental process. Circa 4,400,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' Australopithecus afarensis arises in Africa. Compared to the earlier Orrorin tugenensis, this species has smaller canines and molars, a prognathic face, and a larger brain. Most importantly, Australopithecus afarensis is a biped, moving upright as modern humans do, whereas Orrorin tugenensis ''is digitigrade (a "knucklewalker") like modern apes. Circa 2,600,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:'' Australopithecus garhi'' arises. This species (an ancestor of modern humanity) is the first to use stone flakes as tools. While some earlier species would occasionally fashion primitive, temporary tools out of wood and grass, Australopithecus garhi is the first to make tools that are kept longer than the moment of their uses, and the first to fashion tools from stone. Circa 2,500,000 BCE *'''Date Unknown: **''Homo habilis ("handy man") arises. This is the first species to be considered recognizably "human" (as opposed to being a bipedal ape species, like the ''Australopithecines). Homo habilis has a more advanced and complex social organization than earlier species, uses more advanced tools than any species before it, and are more adaptable to changes in their environment than previous species. **The Chirpsthritha go extinct as a species. Circa 2,200,000 BCE *'Date Unknown: Homo erectus ("upright man") arises in Africa. While in some ways still very apelike, ''Homo erectus bears a striking resemblance to modern humanity. Homo erectus is the first species to use self-generated fire (earlier species like Homo habilis ''and ''Australopithecus garhi made use of fire by taking advantage of wildfires already present in nature). Circa 1,900,000 BCE *'''Date Unknown: **''Homo ergaster'' ("working man") arises in southern Africa. Homo ergaster ''is the first of the human species to use true language, and the tools used include stone cleavers and hand axes intentionally shaped from stone to have a bifacial (two-sided) cutting edge. **''Troglodytes gorilla erectus ("monstrous upright ape") arises in what will later be the Congo region of Africa. Circa 1,800,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' Homo ergaster ''migrates from Africa, widely dispersing throughout Arica, Europe, and Asia. Circa 600,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **Homo sapiens heidelbergensis ("thinking man of Heidelberg") arises in what is now Germany. This species closely resembles the classic modern opinion of what a "cave man" looks like (even moreso than the later ''Homo sapiens neanderthalis did). Homo heidelbergensis was only slightly shorter than modern humans, used spears as hunting weapons, and used a much more complicated language system than other species, including conceptual symbology that was the earliest predecessor of modern writing. It is the last common ancestor species between modern humans and neanderthals. From this point, human evolution becomes very, very rapid. **Gorilla gorilla habilis ("handy gorilla") arises in the mountains of eastern Africa. Circa 500,000 BCE *A small group of Homo sapiens heidelburgensis ''are forced to move into a deep cave system by enemy tribes. They encounter some of the original anaerobic servants of the Old Ones. These cthonic beings pass on their customs and traditions to the primitive humans, thus allowing the veneration of the Old Ones to continue. The experience changes the ''heidelburgensis, warping their descendants into beings that are neither H. sapiens sapiens nor H. sapiens neanderthalis, but are capable of interbreeding with both. These deviant beings come to call themselves Neoch'thon, and begin to spread throughout the world. Circa 350,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **''Homo sapiens neanderthalis'' ("thinking man of the Neander valley") arises in Europe. **Within three thousand years of reaching true sapience, Neanderthal shamans discover the rudiments of magic, becoming the first wizards and sorcers on Earth since the Old Ones were driven away. Circa 200,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **''Homo sapiens sapiens'' ('intelligent thinking man") arises. The original group of H. sapiens sapiens is a single tribal group located in south-western Africa. The descendents of this one tribe will eventually spread out and conquer the entire globe. **''Homo sapiens idaltu'' ("father of thinking man", a misnomer)'' arises in central Africa. **The last living true ''Homo sapiens heidelburgensis dies of old age, making the species extinct. **The species that will eventually be labeled ''Homo exter tautiq sapiens'' ("alien man from Tautiq") by modern humans arises on a planet orbiting 20 Leo Majoris. **Shamans belonging to Homo sapiens sapiens discover magic. Unlike their neanderthal cousins, for whom magic is brutish and unpredicable, Cro-Magnon wizards begin to work magic with ever-growing subtlety and efficiency. Circa 100,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **''Homo sapiens floriensis'' arises in Indonesia. **''Gorilla gorilla sapiens'' ("thinking gorilla") arises in the mountains of what will later be known as Uganda. Circa 45,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' A child is born to the Mktunnugut tribe of Neanderthals living in what will eventually be the North Cape of Norway. After three days (during which the tribe's shaman kept watch to make sure the child didn't sicken and die), the boy is named Grak. Circa 44,987 BCE *'Date Unknown:' Grak of the Mktunnugut tribe undergoes the Rites of Manhood and is declared an adult and a hunter under the protection of the Rhinoceros spirit. Circa 44,984 BCE *'Date Unknown:' The Mktunnugut tribe leaves its dwelling place in search of a larger cave to call home. During the migration, Grak is caught in an avalanche and thought killed. The tribe's shaman hastily says the Rites of Death over the collapsed snowbank and the tribe moves on. Circa 42,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' A K'kriki'i science ship finds Earth and begins a fifteen year study. The K'kriki'i determine that the Neanderthal species will likely become extinct within the next five thousand years due to competition with the more adaptive and dynamic Homo sapiens sapiens. A breeding population of 120,000 Neanderthals is removed from Earth and taken to a planet the Neanderthal "colonists" will eventually call "Darib". Circa 39,000 BCE *The last living Neanderthal on Earth dies of tetanus. From this point forward, the species only exists on the planet Darib. Circa 37,000 BCE *'Date Unknown': The Empire of the Sun, known to the modern world as Lemuria, is founded by the Warlord-Sorcerer Skarnaak on volcanic, seismically active sub-continental landmass in the South Pacific. Lemurian sorcerers begin using their magic to prevent the constant earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that threaten the Empire. The spells do not stop the seismic activity, but merely suspend it indefinitely. This fact will come back to haunt the Lemurians later. Circa 34,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' As Earth's mana cycle hits an all-time low point, the spells preventing earthquakes in Lemura fail. Three thousand years of built-up and contained seismic energy is released in a single two minute period, reshaping the South Pacific region. The Empire of the Sun is swallowed into the Earth and the Pacific Ocean flows over the sinking landmass, removing any traces that a thriving civilization once existed. Circa 24,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' The last living Homo sapiens idaltu is killed by a hippopotamus, making the species extinct. Circa 12,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **The sorcerer Anaximander, having grown tired of the continual loss of mystic knowledge held by mages too reluctant or afraid or jealous to share it, decides to found a school for magical learning. He bases his school on a large island in the Atlantic Ocean that is the convergence of eight separate ley lines. He names the island "Atlantis". **Drawn by Anaximander's call, large numbers of mystics and wizards (and their assorted students, slaves, and family members), travel to Atlantis, forming the basis of a new civilization. Magic progresses and advances as each generation learns from the previous generation, adding to the body of mystic knowledge as a whole. **A damaged Chemoshlosh city-ship arrives at Earth. Desperately in need of a safe landing area, the Chemoshlosh nevertheless take nearly a year to study the planet and the primitive sentients they find there. Eventually, feeling they have no choice, the Chemoshlosh land their craft in Lake Vostok in central Antarctica. The stranded aliens, with little hope of rescue, begin converting their starship into a colony base. Circa 11,000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **The last living Homo sapiens floriensis falls from a tree while gathering fruit and dies, making the species extinct. Homo sapiens sapiens is now the sole remaining species of humanity on Earth. **The Mangani tribe conquers all other Gorilla sapiens tribes, unifying the culture and language of the "talking apes." Circa 9200 BCE *'Date Unknown:' Khun Annuk of Atlantis becomes the Earth's first Archmage. Circa 7000 BCE *'Date Unknown:' With magic waning and its defenses weakened, Atlantis is deliberately sunk beneath the ocean waves. Various tombs and scrolls from Atlantis remain the main source of mystical learning in fragmented forms on the surface world. The only other source of mystic power and learning comes from extra-dimensional powers. Circa 2250 BCE *'Date Unknown:' **Sometime during the spring, the goddess Nemesis, Mistress of Punishment, Vengeance, and Proportionality, manifests her first Earthly avatar at Rhamnous, Greece. **Ixion, King of the Lapiths, is adjudged guilty of kin-slaying by Nemesis. Ixion is cursed to father the centaurs upon a cloud that has been shaped like the goddess Hera, and is then sentenced to Tarterus, where is is bound for all eternity to a wheel of fire. Circa 2200 BCE *'Date Unknown:' After a series of disastrous wars with nearby human tribes that nearly lead to the extinction of their entire species, the Mangani gorillas retreat into the mountains of what will later be called Tanzania. They build a sanctuary city there. Circa 1900 BCE *'Date Unknown:' King Tantalus of Lydia sacrifices his son Pelops to the Olympian gods. Enraged by his heresy, the gods sentence Tantalus to Tarterus, where he would forever stand in a pool of water, food and drink always just out of his reach. Circa 1300 BCE *'Date Unknown:' Sisyphus kills his brother-in-law and takes the throne of Corinth. He rapes his sister and declares her his wife, and begins a tyrannical ten year rule. At his death, he is punished for his sins by being sentenced to roll a boulder up a mountain for all eternity. 1050 BCE *'Date Unknown:' Sometime in the spring of 1050 BCE, the girl Arachne is born to the house of Idmon the Weaver. Lacking sons, he teaches his only daughter his trade as she grows up. 1033 BCE *'Date Unknown:' Having become a skilled weaver, Arachne pridefully declares her skill greater even than that of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War as well as the weaving arts. When confronted by the goddess herself, Arachne demands a contest of skill against Athena, which Arachne then wins. Enraged at being beaten by a prideful mortal girl, Athena turns Arachne into a spider and sentences her to be thus forever in payment for her sin of pride. 45 BCE *'January 1:' The Roman Empire formally adopts the Julian Calendar, making this day the first day of the new year for the entire Empire. 516 CE *'Date Unknown:' Armed with a magical sword caled "Excalibur", Artaius, a half-Roman, half-Welsh nobleman, leads an army against Saxon invaders aided by a band of mounted knights and a Welsh sorerer named Myrddin. After a series of well-fought battles, he finally defeats the invaders at Badon Hill. Artaius is crowned King of Cambria a year later. 824 CE *'Date Unknown:' Nennius, a Welsh scholar, writes the first ever work that mentions "King Arthur". The work itself is a single paragraph written in Latin, taken from an even older Welsh story that had been handed down from generation to generation verbally. The paragraph concerns itself with the "twelve great battles" that were fought by Artaius of Cambria. 1000 CE *'Date Unknown:' Viking explorer Leif Eriksen lands in what will eventually be known as Newfoundland, and founds a colony he dubs "Vinland." 1050 CE *'Date Unknown: 'The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem is founded. 1469 CE *'May 3:' Niccolo Machiavelli is born in Florence, Italy. 1470 CE *'Date Unknown: '''Sir Thomas Malory completes "Le Morte d'Arthur", a book which is probably more responsible for the modern concept of chivalry than any other work. Malory adds the story of Launcelot and his forbidden love for Queen Guinevere to the Arthurian legend. 1474 CE *'January 8:' Juan Ponce de Leon y Figueroa is born. 1492 CE *'January 2:' After months of siege, Muslim-controlled Grenada surrenders to Spanish forces under King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, bringing an end to 780 years of Muslim control of the Iberian penninsula. *'August 3:' Christopher Columbus departs from Palos de la Frontera, Spain with three ships (the ''Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria), intent on crossing the Atlantic in a bid to open trade with "the Japans". *'October 12:' Columbus's fleet makes landfall at the island later called Samana Cay (part of the Bahamas), having successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He names the island "San Salvador." *'October 28:' Columbus makes landfall on the northeastern coast of Cuba. *'December 25:' The Santa Maria, one of Columbus's three vessels, runs aground off the northern coast of Hispaniola and is abandoned. Seeing the grounding as a portent, Columbus leaves behind 39 men to form a settlement he named "La Navidad" in what is now present-day Haiti. 1493 CE *'March 15:' Columbus returns to Palos de la Frontera and a hero's welcome. *'September 24:' Christopher Columbus embarks on his second voyage to the New World, this time with a fleet of seventeen ships and nearly twelve hundred men to colonize the region. Among these men is Juan Ponce de Leon. During this voyage, Columbus discovers and names the islands that will eventually become Dominica, Marie-Galante, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, Saona, Montserrat, Antigua, Redonda, Saint Martin, and Saint Croix (along with many others). 1494 CE *'January 21:' Nicollo Machiavelli enters governmental service in Florence as a clerk and ambassador. *'September 2:' The Medicis are expelled from Florence, restoring the Republic. Nicollo Machiavelli is appointed to the diplomatic countil responsible for negotiation and military affairs. 1498 CE *'May 14:' Christopher Columbus begins his third voyage to the New World. 1502 CE *'April 2' Christopher Columbus begins his fourth and final voyage to the New World, Being still convinced that the lands he had discovered were merely a chain of islands off the coast of Asia, Columbus was intent on finding the Straight of Malacca (a well-known sea-route between the Pacific and Indian Oceans). Instead, he conclusively proved that the land he'd discovered was, in fact, not merely a long string of islands, but two previous unknown (to the Spanish, at least) continents. 1503 CE *'January 11:' Niccolo Machiavelli is put in charge of the Florentine militia, including all of the city's defenses. It is during this time that he begins studying the mystic arts. 1504 CE *'May 17:' Ponce de Leon is given the task of pacifying the native Tainos tribes attacking Spanish settlements in the northern regions of Hispaniola. de Leon takes to this new assignment with relish, and defeats the tribes in less than two months. 1509 CE *'August 14:' Ponce de Leon is appointed Governor of Bautista (the island now called Puerto Rico). 1512 CE *'May 9:' With the help of soldiers working for Pope Julius II, the Medicis overthrow the Florentine Republic and restore themselves to power. Nicollo Machiavelli is arrested and tortured for "anti-Medici sentiments", but is released after denying such attitudes. He is exiled from Florence and flees to Sant'Andrea in Percussina. 1513 CE *'March 4:' After hearing rumors and legends from the conquered tribes for months, Ponce de Leon sets out to discover "the Island of Binimy", supposedly the home of a magic spring, the waters of which will make a man immortal. *'April 2:' Ponce de Leon makes landfall at what will later be Melbourne Beach, Florida. He is the first European to set foot on North American soil since the Vikings departed Newfoundland over five hundred years earlier. He names the "island" he believes he has discovered (not realizing he's on a continental penninsula) "La Florida." *'June 10:' Making landfall at what will later be known as Biscayne Bay, Florida, Ponce de Leon leads a force of some 250 men into the inner swamps of Florida, becoming the first European to enter the Everglades. After three weeks of searching, de Leon finds the fountain of youth. Bathing in the fountain, he gains immortality, of a sort. 1519 CE *'April 13: 'The Empress is born in Florence, Italy. 1521 CE *'July 5:' Juan Ponce de Leon "dies" after being struck by a poisoned arrow during yet another voyage to Florida. Disguised as a common soldier, he smuggles himself back to Europe shortly thereafter. 1527 CE *'June 15:' Nicollo Machiavelli fakes his own death after deciding to form a secret society of like-minded souls who would "wrest control of the world from those too blinded by their own stupidity to see how stupid they truly are." 1532 CE *'Date Unknown:' Il Principe ("The Prince"), a treatise written by Machiavellii on how to rule correctly and efficiently, is published "posthumously." 1533 CE *'June 3:' Twelve year old Catherine de'Medici is married to the fourteen year old Henry Valois, second son of King Francis I of France. 1535 CE *'Date Unknown:' Nicollo Machiavelli "posthumously" publishes his second book, Il Discorsi ("The Discourses"), a history of the Roman Empire. 1536 CE *'August 10:' Francis, Dauphin of France, is poisoned by his secretary and attendant, Count Montecuccoli. Henry becomes heir presumptive to the Crown of France. 1547 CE *'March 31:' Henry Velois becomes King Henry II of France, elevating Catherine de'Medici to Queen Consort. *'September 13:' Machiavelli begins calling himself "The Emperor", after naming his new secret society the Brotherhood of the Tarot. 1555 CE *'August 24:' The Emperor mystically binds Juan Ponce de Leon to his service using power spells, appointing the Spaniard "Death", the first of the Major Arcana. 1559 CE *King Henry II of France dies and Francis, Henry's fifteen-year-old son by Catherine de'Medici, becomes King Francis II. 1560 CE *'Deember 15:' Francis II of France dies. Francis's younger brother Charles becomes King of France. 1572 CE *'August 23:' Nearly 30,000 French Huguenots across France are slaughtered on the order of the intensely Catholic King Charles IX. When the general public and the nobility react unfavorably to his massacre of the politically inconvenient Huguenots, Charles offers up his mother, Catherine de'Medici, up as a scapegoat. 1574 CE *'May 30:' King Charles IX of France dies. His younger brother becomes King Henry III of France. 1586 CE *Catherine de'Medici is quietly approached by The Emperor. They discuss the possibilities of her joining his secret society and putting her considerable political skills to work for him. To sweeten the pot, he offers to teach her the secrets of magic. 1589 CE *'January 5:' Catherine de'Medici escapes to Florence, Italy, leaving behind a magically created homonculous to "die" in her place. With everyone thinking she is dead, Catherine accepts The Emperor's offer and joins Tarot as The Empress. 1602 CE *'February 2:' Leopold Johannes Dorian von Hapsburg, a member of the Hapsburg-Breisgau line of the House of Hapsburg that rules over much of Europe is born in Salzberg, Austria. 1615 CE *'January 8:' Leopold von Hapsburg's parents die of smallpox, leaving him in charge of a large family estate and barely enough money to survive on it. 1619 CE *'August 9:' Leopold von Hapsburg is lynched when he tries to stop a mob of Spanish mercenaries from raiding his manor house's larders. The mercenaries, looking for food, liquor, and plunder, burn the manor down and leave Leopold's dead body hanging from a tree. *'August 11:' After two days of continually reviving and strangling to death all over again, Leopold von Hapsburg manages to free himself from the tree he's been hung on. 1620 CE *'March 11:' Leopold von Hapsburg joins a Prussian mercenary company, vowing to kill every "Spanish bastard" he can lay his sword to. 1644 CE *'April 9:' Leopold von Hapsburg flees Marienburg, Prussia just ahead of another lynch mob accusing him of witchcraft after someone noticed that not only was he not getting any older, his injuries healed far too quickly to be normal. 1649 CE *'August 15:' In a fit of boredom, Leopold von Hapsburg hires a small band of thugs and leads them in an attack on the caravan of Prince Rupert of Bavaria. While all of his hired thugs were killed, Leopold did manage to severely wound the Prince and make off with nearly sixty thousand guilders in gold. 1698 CE *'August 9:' Leopold von Hapsburg kills Paolo Veliero, youngest son of Silvestro Valiero, Doge of Venice. 1740 CE *'January 16:' Leopold von Hapsburg joins Tarot as the Hanged Man. 1757 CE *'May 11:' William Picket and Matthew Harding found Nowhere, Ohio. 1892 CE *'April 1:' Peter Ulric von Maltus is born in Bischofshofen, Austria. 1902 CE *'May 16:' Invading forces from the Daribi Confederation land in Surrey, south-west of London, England (with later landings occurring all across southern England), attempting to establish a beachhead for a global invasion of Earth. Counter-attacks and defensive fire from British forces prove almost useless against the invaders. The primary exception is the British battleship ''HMS Thunderchild'', which manages to bring down two of the Daribi warcraft in a sustained battle. After a long series of battles in which the British Army and Navy can do little more than stage fighting retreats, the Daribi are finally brought down by a lack of resistance to Terran microbes. Two weeks after the invasion begins, all Daribi forces on the planet are dead of various airborn diseases. 1908 CE *'June 30:' ''Something'' eplodes eight kilometers above the ground near the river Tunguska in Siberia, destroying nearly 2,150 square miles of taiga. A wave of high-energy radiation catapults around the globe, starting the Age of the Superhuman. The energy expended is estimated to be within the 10 to 15 metaton range. 1911 CE *'May 16:' By this date, the Wing Chao Tong, led by a purported sorcerer calling himself T'ien Lung (or "Celestial Dragon") has control over 75% of all criminal activity in San Francisco's Chinatown. 1919 CE *'February 7:' David Danner is born in McCook, Nebraska. 1923 CE *'May 18:' Peter von Maltus graduates from the University of Bonn with a double doctorate in chemistry and medicine. 1930 CE *'February 17:' Reginald Wannsinger is born. *'March 11:' French physicist Georges Claude demonstrates the first OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) power plant in shallow water off the coast of Cuba. 1933 CE *'Jauary 30:' Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. *'February 27:' The Nazis burn the Reichstag Building, the seat of the German government. Adolph Hitler, using the "communist menace" as an excuse, seizes near-complete control over the German government. He is granted "emergency powers" the next day by the parliament. *'March 22:' The Dachau Concentration Camp, used primarily for the imprisonment of political prisoners, is opened by the Nazis. *'July 14:' **The Nazi Party is declared the only legal political party in Germany. **The German parliament passes a law stripping Jews of their German citizenship, and another law which authorizes the forced sterilization of those found by a Hereditary Health Council to have "genetic defects." *'November 24:' The German Parliament passes the Habitual and Dangerous Criminals Act, which allows the homeless, alcoholics, and the perpetually unemployed to be rounded up and sent to a concentration camp. 1934 CE *'June 30:' In what will later be known as "The Knight of Long Knives", Ernst Rohm and the rest of the Brown Shirt leadership are "purged" from the Nazi Party. *'August 2:' President of Germany Paul von Hindenberg dies. Within hours, the positions of President and Chancellor are combined, giving Adolph Hitler absolute power. 1935 CE *'September 15:' The Nuremberg Race Laws are passed in Germany. *'November 5:' Georges Claude's second-generation OTEC power plant is lost when the ship carrying it into place is sunk by a tropical storm. 1936 CE *'March 7:' The Germans occupy the Rhineland. *'May 30:' The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is opened by the Nazis. As with Dachau, it is primarily a prison camp for political prisoners, as opposed to "undesirables." *'August 1:' The Summer Olympics begin in Berlin, Germany. *'October 2:' Baron Peter von Maltus is selected to lead Projekt-Ubermenschen by Adolph Hitler himself. 1937 CE *'July 9:' The Nazis open the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. It is used to house "undesirables" such as Jews, homosexuals, Slavs, Gypsies, and the retarded. *'August 11:' The Nazi Ministry of Information begin releasing newsreel footage of a superhuman man dubbed "Sturmfuhrer" (or "Storm Leader"). In the footage, the man is seen lifting a cargo truck over his head, leaping long distances, and crushing concrete blocks over his head. He is also shown to be demonstratably immune to small arms fire and flames. 1938 CE *'March 13:' German troops enter Austria. Adolph Hitler announces an official Anschluss ("union") between the two countries. *'April 5:' David Danner enlists in the US Army. *'September 30:' Chancellor of Germany Adolph Hitler, Prime Minister of Italy Benito Mussolini, French Premiere Edouard Daladier, and Prime MInister of England Neville Chamberlain sign the Munich Pact, intended to head off German aggression. The pact seals the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing that nation over to German control in the name of peace. Although the agreement was only supposed to give Hitler control over the Sudentenland (that part of Czechoslovakia where nearly three million ethnic Germans lived), it also handed over 66% of Czechoslovakia's coal, 70% of its iron and steel, and 70% of its electrical power to the Nazi war machine. *'October 15:' The German army occupies the Sudentenland. *'October 24:' Warcraft sent by the Daribi Confederation land near Grover's Mills, New Jersey and begin a second invasion of Earth. The military might of the United States is as useless against the superior alien technology possessed by the invader as the English army was in 1902. Once again, the Daribi are defeated through lack of resistance to disease, and the invasion is over in a week. In the wake of the failed invasion, the United States government confiscates and begins study of as much of the Daribi technology as they can salvage. *'October 31:' The US government hires well-known writer/producer Orson Welles to assist in the cover-up of the Daribi invasion. *'November 7:' Ernst von Rath, Third Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris, is assassinated by a Polish Jew in response to Germany's harsh treatment of his fellow Jews. *'November 9:' In response to the assassinatino of von Rath, Nazi storm troopers, along with members of the SS and the Hitler Youth, beat and murder Jews, break into and wreck Jewish homes and businesses, and brutalize Jewish women and children while police and crowds of spectators watch. About 25,000 Jewish men are rounded up and sent to concentration camps. This will later become known as Kristallnacht (or "The Night of Broken Glass"). 1939 CE *'February 7:' Private First Class David Danner is kidnapped from Fort Freedom Army Base in Freedom, Arizona for use as a guinea pig by Baron Peter von Maltus as part of Projekt-Ubermenschen (the search for a reliable means of manufacturing superhuman soldiers for Hitler's army). The experiment goes awry when Danner manages to escape before the procedure is concluded. *'February 12:' Frenchman Marc Robitaille uses his ever-growing strength and invulnerability to foil a robbery at the Louvre in Paris. Donning a mask, he becomes known as Resolu ("Resolute"). The papers quickly dub him the "Gallant Warrior of France" for his bravery and joie-de-vivre. *'February 22:' David Danner presents himself to President Franklin Roosevelt, demonstrates his superhuman powers, and offers his services to the government of the United States. *'March 15:' German forces pour into the rest of Czechoslovakia, blatantly violating the Munich Pact. *'May 3:' The US State Department begins production on a number of patriotic-themed film shorts starring David Danner, now dubbed "Ultra-Man" by the State Department's newly created Office of Superhuman Resources (or OSR), in an effort to counter similar Nazi propaganda films. *'May 19:' The Nazis open the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, used primarily for housing women. *'August 24:' Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Act, creating a non-aggression pact between the two countries and pledging neutrality by either party should the other be attacked by a third party. *'September 1:' German troops invade Poland. Sturmfuhrer is seen in action at the spearpoint of the invasion.. *'September 3:' England and France declare war on Germany, beginning World War II. *'September 14:' U39, a German submarine, attacks a British battlegroup and is sunk. *'September 17:' The Soviet Union invades eastern Poland, effectively dividing that country in two with the Germans. *'October 6:' The Nazis begin a program of systematically euthenizing the chronically ill and permanently disabled. 1940 CE *'January 14:' Ultra-Man and Sturmfuhrer battle each other for the first time in the skies above New York City. Their battle devastates several skyscrapers before Ultra-Man drives Sturmfuhrer away. There is no clear cut victor. *'January 25:' The Auschwitz Concentration Camp is opened by the Nazis. *'April 9:' Germany invades Denmark. *'May 10:' The German army bypasses the Maginot Line and invades France. *'June 14:' The Nazis occupy Paris. Resolu opts to stay in the city after the Nazis invade, rather than escape to England. His spirited determination becomes a backbone of inspiration for the French Resistance. *'June 22:' France surrenders to Germany. *'September 27:' Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact, forming the Axis. *'October 7:' Germany invades Romania. *'October 21:' Reginald Wannsinger's family (including Reginald himself, his father Henri, his mother Lotti, his brother Holitz, and his sisters Katherine and Demut) are rounded up by the SS and taken to Dachau Concentration Camp. 1941 CE *'March 2:' Germany invades Bulgaria. *'April 6:' Germany invades Yugoslavia. *'June 22:' Germany invades the Soviet Union, breaking the Molotov-Ribbentrop Act and initiating Operation Barbarossa. *'September 19:' Kiev falls to German forces. *'December 7:' Naval air forces of the Empire of Japan stage a massive sneak attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. Nearly twenty-four hundred American servicemen are killed, and nearly the entire US battleship fleet is destroyed. *'December 8:' The United States declares war on Japan. *'December 11:' Germany declares war on the United States. The US responds in kind. 1942 CE *'June 30:' The coordination of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" is begun at the Wannsee Conference. This begins an attempt at the systematic, determined, and planned extermination of every Jew in Europe. 1944 CE *'April 12:' Ultra-Man disappears during a battle in which he and the Liberty Legion fight Sturmfuhrer and several other Nazi superhumans in Ghent, Belgium, Ultra-Man is believed to have been killed in the fighting. *'October 9:' The first commercial advertisements featuring a metahuman is released over the radio. Featuring well-known Boston crimefighter Law Dog, and running only in that city, the posters and radio spots hawked Bukowski's Tavern, which the hero called "The best place on Earth to relax after a hard day of fighting gangsters and Ratzi saboteurs." The tavern's business increases nearly 215% over the next year all on the strength of these endorsements. 1945 CE *'April 29:' **The concentration camp at Dachau is liberated when the handful of guards and staff remaining at the camp (all other administrators having fled) surrender to the American army. **Reginald Wannsinger discovers that he is the only member of his family to have survived Dachau. '1946 CE' *'May 8:' Reginald Wannsinger emigrates to the United States. 1947 CE *'July 2:' Reginald Wannsinger becomes a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While there, be begins to formulate a plan for saving the world from itself. 1948 CE *'August 22:' The South African government forms a paramilitary organization dedicated to defending their "nationalistic right to protect the superior white race from undesirable, inferior influences." Dubbed "Purity", the organization consists of a small unit of metahumans called the White Legion, assisted by a cadre of highly trained, well-equipped soldiers. 1950 CE *'February 20:' Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) makes a six hour long speech on the floor of the United States Senate, decrying communist infiltration of "the so-called masked heroes." He claims to have evidence that at least thirty-one well-known metahumans (some villains, some heroes, some neither) are secret communists. 1951 CE *'March 18:' The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the US Senate, lead by Senator McCarthy issues subpoenas demanding the appearance of the members of the Liberty Legion, past and present, to answer charges of "un-American political sentiments." *'April 2:' Uncle Sam appears before the Senate Investigations Subcommittee, stoically silent as Senator McCarthy questions his patriotism and dedication to the country, as well as calling into his question his "desecration of a sacred American symbol", specifically his use of the flag motif in his costume. When McCarthy's rant is over, the star-spangled hero responds, simply, "I am so very disappointed in all of you. Very disappointed indeed." He then stands and exits the building. Despite a call for the guards to arrest the hero, no one even attempts to stop him from leaving. Uncle Sam is not seen again in public for twenty-five years. *'April 4:' Appearing before the Senate Investigations Subcommittee, a visible shaken Larry "Sergeant Victory" Floyd calls Senators Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon "fascist snakes", and challenged both men to fist-fights despite his wheelchair-bound condition. Floyd is later found to be in contempt of Congress. He spends three years in prison. *'April 7:' During his appearance before the Senate Investigations hearing, Mister Mind (who refuses to give his real name) of the Liberty Legion announces that he's had enough of "simplistic questions" coming from "simplistic men". He then mentally paralyzes everyone in the hearing chamber and walks out the door. A warrant for his arrest is issued, but Mister Mind is never seen again. *'April 9:' When Airdrop fails to appear before the Senate hearing, a warrant is issued for his arrest. No arrest is ever made, and it is suspected that Airdrop simply took the costume off and blended into the general population. *'April 10:' At the urging of his bosses at Universal Studios, Terry "Mister America" Benedict testifies before the Senate Investigations hearing as a friendly witness. His testimony is especially damning of Airdrop, Liberty Belle (both of whom flirted with membership in the American Communist Party during the Great Depression), and Mister Mind (who continued to hold membership in the ACP as late as 1945). *'April 12:' Under a barrage of insulting and harssing questions from Joseph McCarthy, a very-pregnant Janine "Liberty Belle" Warren suffers a miscarriage. She dies of blood loss on the way to the hospital. 1952 CE *'January 1:' With few exceptions, by this date most publicly operating metahuman crime-fighters have taken off their costumes and retired rather than face the same fate the members of the Liberty Legion suffered. *'May 12:' The gorilla named Bojangles is born in Lake Elsinore, California. 1956 CE *'October 9:' Ernst van der Lught is born in Capetown, South Africa. 1958 CE *'April 15:' Windstorm, the first of the "second generation" of superheroes, makes his first public appearance. 1961 CE *'June 24:' Kimberly Chase is born in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, England. *'November 7:' Matriq Brelik, an ambassador from Gorilla City, presents his credentials to the Secretary General of the United Nations and requests non-member observer status be granted his homeland. The revelation that sentient gorillas have existed on Earth almost as long as modern humans shocks the world. 1962 CE *'November 7:' Nelson Mandela dies of "accidental" injuries acquired in a South African jail shortly after his arrest. *'December 4:' During the Twenty-First Ecumenical Council of the Holy Mother Church (better known as the Vatican II Council), reformers manage to push through the idea that intelligent apes and other sentient species may have souls, bringing on intense and harsh debate. 1963 CE *'January 12:' The mission of the Order of Malta is expended to include the recruitment and training of Catholic metahumans (including both clergy and lay-persons) to serve as the Church's "official superhero team", which would work to defend the faith and promote Catholic values worldwide. *'March 5:' UN Secretary General U Thant announces the formation of Checkmate, an international paramilitary force whose mission is to "fight terrorism and the international consequences of metahuman criminal activity." *'March 28:' U Thant meets with eight heroes from around the world. Those heroes (Excalibur of Great Britain, Luz of Brazil, Stalnoivolk of the Soviet Union, Carnaval of France, Rampart of the United States, Jabbar of Iran, Katla of Iceland, and Apollo of Greece) form the initial Global Guardians team. The team initially operates out of UN Headquarters in New York City. *'July 4:' The word "Mutant" is used for the first time in a news story, describing a person born with their powers. *'November 13:' The Defenders, the first privately funded and organized hero team, begin operation in Detroit, Michigan. 1964 CE *'March 15:' **A near-perfectly preserved corpse of a Neanderthal is found frozen in a glacier in Northern Norway. Scientists label the find "the Nordkapp Man." **Reginald Wannsinger, having been disillusioned (and almost imprisoned) after taking his plan for saving the world to various corporations and national governments, decides to save the world on his own. With this in mind, he begins gathering resources. *'October 24:' Members of the Vatican II Council declare that, in the opinion of the Roman Catholic Church, sentient apes and other alien beings have souls. *'December 8:' The Nordkapp Man "wakes up" while being examined by a forensic anthropologist. Scientists eventually teach him Norwegian and find out his name is Grak. The last thing Grak remembers was migrating with his tribe, and suddenly hearing a great rumbling sound. 1965 CE *'January 11:' The chimpanzee who will one day call himself Doctor Simian is born at the World of Africa roadside zoo and attraction in Marshall's Creek, Pennsylvania. *'February 26:' Hadeon Popik is born in Kiev, Ukraine. *'May 9:' Stalnoivolk is expelled from the Global Guardians after it is revealed that he has been passing intelligence information to the Soviet government since the team's inception. He is replaced by Japanese strongman Fuji. *'December 1:' Scientists working with Grak, the recently reanimated Neanderthal man, discover his powers over ice and cold. 1966 CE *'April 12:' Fiona Richards is born in Leeds, England. 1968 CE *'September 1:' Excalibur announces his retirement from the Global Guardians, and names Apollo his replacement as team leader. 1969 CE *'July 4:' Roma Lempke is born in Dudaujvaros, Hungary. *'October 11:' Pierre Montblanc is born in Lac-Saint-Jean-Est, Quebec, Canada. 1970 CE *'April 28:' The United States Congress passes the Non-Human Intelligence Law, recognizing intelligent apes and all alien species proven to possess at least human levels of sentience as "persons bearing rights that must be recognized by the government." *'June 13:' Reginald Wannsinger, now calling himself Lord Doom, begins Project Tomorrow, with the aim of getting him at least one "worthy heir." *'October 10:' Anibal Araujo is born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. *'November 8:' Kichiro Ito is born in Fukuoka, Japan. 1971 CE *'July 18:' In [[Washington vs. "Knightblade"|''Washington vs. "Knightblade"]], the US Supreme Court holds that superheroes who are sanctioned and sponsored by governmental agencies (at any levels) must abide by normal police procedure and standards when it comes to treatment of prisoners and collection of evidence. The Court further holds that a non-sanctioned vigilante who is acting on his own authority as a private citizen has no obligation to follow police procedure, and thus any evidence supplied by such vigilantes to police may be used in court even if the methods used to collect that evidence would be illegal if performed by the police. The non-sanctioned vigilante is still liable for any criminal actions he may have performed while accumulating said evidence, however. *'August 12:' Jabbar, Luz, and Katla all announce their retirement from the Global Guardians. They are replaced by Canadian mentalist Mindset, Stellarina of Holland, and South Korean hero Warhawk. *'August 18:' Lord Doom overthrows the government of Bermuda with the assistance of a small army of soldiers armed with very advanced weaponry and a handful of supervillains. *'October 9:' An amendment to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act is made that formally makes Canadian Shield, already the "national hero team of Canada", a part of the RCMP. 1972 CE *'January 24:' Carnaval retires from crimefighting. The Global Guardians replace her with Belgian superheroine La Charisme. *'May 13:' Warin Ebensbach is born in Xanten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. *'July 15:' Pawel Radomski is bord in Lodz, Poland. *'September 16:' Andres Demericot is born in Manila, The Phillipines. 1974 CE *'May 12:' Ernst van der Lught graduates from the seminary and is ordained an Anglican priest. *'July 13:' Ernst van der Lught marries Susan Swanepoel, his long-time sweetheart. 1975 CE *'April 1:' The orangutan who would eventually be called Cyberangutan is born in the jungles surrounding Palembang, Indonesia. *'August 18:' Joshua Wilson is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He is immediately turned over to an orphanage. *'September 11:' Vittorio Fredi is born in Catania, on the Island of Sicily. *'September 18:' In the middle of a performance at the Word of Africa roadside zoo and attraction, while wearing a plastic lei, a grass skirt, and banging away on a ukelele, Bobo the Chimp "wakes up" when his Metagene activates. His intelligence increases to vastly-greater-than-normal-human intelligence. Later that night, he escapes from captivity, plotting revenge on all humanity for his "humiliation" and "life of imprisonment." He abandons the name Bobo and begins calling himself Doctor Simian. *October 10: Nimal Karunatilake is born in London. *'December 15: Park Sang-myun, the hero better known as Warhawk, is arrested while attempting to smuggle six kilos of heroin into the United States. He is immediately expelled from the Global Guardians, and eventually serves fifteen years in prison for drug trafficking. In his place, Apollo recruits Pendragon, the son of former Guardians leader Excalibur. 1976 CE *'''March 15: Carlos Verdecia is born in Paravelos, Costa Rica. His parents, Armando and Colette Verdecia, think he is a set of triplets they've named Carlos, Antonio, and Alejandro. *'June 4:' Ernesto Costas is born in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas. *'September 13:' Koos van der Lught is born in Capetown, South Africa. *'October 28:' Yiannos Papantoniou is born in Valuville, Greece. 1977 CE *'March 18:' While enjoying a family trip into the bush country, the van der Lught family's campsight is struck by a dimly glowing meteorite. Susan van der Lught is killed when a piece of shrapnel from the rock strikes her, but Ernst and Koos are not injured. The energies they are exposed to give them mastery over kinetic energy, though Koos' powers do not emerge for several years. *'April 2:' Ernst van der Lught begins his superheroic career as Dogfight. *'August 15:' Having recruited nearly a thousand apes from Gorilla City to serve as his army, Doctor Simian begins looking for other apes with super-powers. He calls his nascent organization "Prime 8." 1978 CE *'February 6:' MIT physics profession Dr. Angus McKee publishes "An Examination of Irregular Wave Forms and Power Phasing Effects in the Jaffe Battery," a study which will directly lead to the development of military grade energy weapons within the next two decades. *'February 12:' A federal appeals court rules in the case of "U.S. vs. Leuten" that because there are clear differences between metahuman criminals and normal criminals, legal standards granting rights to normals may have to be altered to account for superhuman powers. Because of this, extraordinary measures that do not place the metahuman in risk to life or limb may be taken to incarcerate such persons once convicted of a crime. *'April 1:' Alexander Vophang is born in Brownsville, Texas. *'May 4:' Dogfight is "invited" to join the White Legion, South Africa's official team of super "heroes", most of whom are little more than thugs in goverment pay. He refuses, and moves his crimefighting activities underground. *'June 15:' Billy Ray Hanson is born in Halingen, Texas. 1979 CE *'January 12:' A capture team employed by Lord Doom rounds up a small troop of orangutans from the Indonesian jungle for use in medical experiments. *'January 30:' Ramone Costas is born in Matamoros, Mexico. *'March 17:' Emily Warden is born in Port Jefferson, New York. *'March 21:' Portia "La Charisme" Bourne resigns from the Global Guardians in disgrace after a British tabloid newspaper reveals her short-lived career as an pornographic film star in the late 1060s. WIthin weeks of the story's release, sales for her three adult films skyrocket. *'April 1:' **Bernard Kuchieda is born in Caen, France. **Gitte Lilleholt is born in Samso, Denmark. *'April 2:' Jeffrey Jones is born in Tucson, Arizona. *'April 10:' New Jersey issues the first "operator's license" to a metahuman dockworker who works as a heavy equipment operator "without the need for the heavy equipment." *'November 10:' Douglas Naysmith is born in Bristol, England. 1980 CE *'March 5:' Glynnis Loughran is born in Downpatrick, Ireland. *'March 19:' Fiona Richards designs and constructs her first robot. *'May 2:' Rafael Ortega is born in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. *'October 3:' Marcia Chapman is born in Brownsville, Texas. 1981 CE *'April 1:' Aaron Ecklenberg is born in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. *'October 8:' Doctor Simian recruits Cyberangutan into Prime 8. *'October 13:' A group of bodies wash up on the beaches of North Carolina. They are later identified as a group of terror suspects wanted in Bermuda for questioning regarding an assault on a medical laboratory. 1982 CE *'April 1:' Isabella Utzinger is born in Pickaway, Ohio. *'April 9:' Hadeon Popik begins working at the same farm-equipment factory at which his father, grandfather, and all his brothers work. *'April 12:' The United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in "Mark 'Rasputin Tomalov vs. South Carolina." The defendant, a metahuman with the power to heal from immense amounts of damage in seconds to minutes (depending on the severity of the injury) and had demonstrated a practical immunity to poisons, had been convicted on three counts of murder and sentenced to death by a South Carolina coat. His appeal to the Supreme Court was based on the premise that, because any method of execution that would actually kill him would be by definition considered "unsual", such a sentence automatically violated the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution. The Supreme Court agreed, staying Tomalov's execution until South Carolina could produce a method that would be both reasonably quick and humane. *'May 1:' Pawel Radomski's mother Marjan disappears and is never seen again. *'May 2:' South Africa invades Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe simultaneously. The invaded countries band together and fend off South Africa with the help of a group of mystic warriors until the rest of the world can mobilize. *'June 4:' Twin brothers Mariquo and Quino Jafaro are born in Gorilla City. *'October 6:' Barbara Keeley is born in San Francisco, California. *'November 18:' The war against South Africa ends. South Africa is forced to sign the Treaty of Lesotho, which forces them to not only give up land recently invaded, but to allow West South Africa its independence as Namibia. 1983 CE *'January 3:' David Huntow is left on the front steps of the Saint Anne Orphanage in Tingwell, Orkney, Scotland. *'January 23:' "Suicide Squad", debuts on NBC. Within two months it begins its five year stay at the Number One spot in the Neilsen Ratings. It is cancelled in 1990. *'August 26:' Dr. Lincoln Holmes of the Centers for Disease Control discovered the existence of the Metagene. 1984 CE *'January 28:' Lucent Technologies cybernetics lab announces that they have succeeded in creating a functional humanoid robot. *'March 15:' In "Crouch vs. California," the United States Supreme Court holds that the act of putting on a costume, calling oneself by an unusual name, and committing unusual crimes does not automatically mean that a person is insane. *'April 1:' Earth is invaded by the Xorn, a predatory warrior species. The aliens lay waste to several cities around the globe. *'April 11:' President Ronald Reagan signs Executive Order #12668, creating the so-called "Damocles Directive" as a secret arm of the U.S. Justice Department. *'June 3:' Captain Pierre Montblanc of the French Foreign Legion single-handedly destroys a Xorn lance-squad during a chance encounter in the Alps. *'June 5:' PIerre Montblanc disappears while on patrol, looking for a second Xorn unit known to be prowling the Alps. The French Foreign Legion list him as missing in action and presumed dead. *'July 29:' The United States Supreme Court hands down their decision in "U.S. vs. Kwan (1984)", holding that sending a "trained supernormal" whose so-called "powers" only come from intense training and athleticism to a super-maximum security prison designed to hold metahumans is a violation of the "cruel and unusual" provisions of the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. *'August 16:' After three months of intense fighting, the Xorn are driven off by the combined force of the Earth's military might, along with the might of nearly every superhuman alive (including such villains and criminal organizations as Lord Doom, Abyss, and TAROT). The governments of Earth immediately begin examining the technology and alien slaves behind. *'September 15:' Graduate student Fiona Richards publishes "Nanoscopic Robots in Physical Reconstruction of Bodily Tissues as a Means of Fighting Cancer," ''a treatise detailing the use of nanite robots in reconstructing human cells that have become cancerous. Alongside the paper, she demonstrates what she calls her "spectrum cure" on a volunteer cancer patient. The patient is free and clear of her lung cancer within forty-eight hours of the cure's application. *'October 2:' Tanya Peters is born in York, England. *'October 23:' In a hyperwave broadcast made using captured Xorn equipment to whatever alien species that might be listening, Pendragon, leader of the Global Guardians, issues the Terran Ultimatum. *'December 10:' Fiona Richards is awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. 1985 CE *'March 15:' The parents of Carlos Verdecia discover that their "triplets" are actually a single son who possesses the mutant power to create duplicates of himself. *'April 10:' An army of Lemurians boil up from under the ground into central Scotland. They are opposed and driven back underground by the British army and air force, accompanied by a loose band of English, Scottish, and Welsh superheroes. *'April 14:' The heroes who opposed the Scottish Lemurian invasion join together formally as Majestic. the British national superhero team. *'June 11:' Kimberly Chase graduates from the University of Nottingham medical school. *'August 2:' The Richards Spectrum Cure goes into widespread production. It will eventually make Fiona Richards a multi-billionaire. *'August 21:' Project Prometheus AMX-1, the android created by Lucent Technologies, sues its creators to have its rights as a sentient being recognized. Eventually, the case reaches the United States Supreme Court, who rule in the android's favor. *'September 7:' The Rothlyn-Dalburt Test, which detects the presence of the Metagene in a human DNA sample, is put into production. *'September 13:' Fiona Richards founds the Diamond Corporation. *'November 1:' After a long career of fighting crime in South Africa, Dogfight is invited to join the Global Guardians. He accepts. *'November 27:' An impromptu attempt to overthrow the South African apartheid government by an international team of black metahumans fails. The slaughter of the invading supers by South African forces shock the world. 1986 CE *'January 2:' The South African government orders the genetic screening of all babies born in the country. All non-white babies shown to be carrying the Metagene are immediately euthanized. *'June 8:' In ''"U.S. vs. Kwan (1986)", the United States Supreme Court holds that a supernormal can be incarcerated in a super-maximum security prison designed to hold metahumans when "that supernormal has proven himself to be so adept at escape that it is unlikely a normal prison facility could ever contain him for long." *July 13: The Costas family leaves Matamoros, sneaking into the United States illegally. They eventually take up residence in San Bonita, a suburb of Brownsville. *'August 1:' William Shiyu Yuan becomes Dragon Head of the Wing Chao Tong in San Francisco. *'August 30:' Project Longsword, the Russian super-soldier program, is begun at a secret laboratory in Maloyaroslavets. 1987 CE *'January 6:' Eleven year old Koos van der Lught demonstrates his kinetic powers for the first time. *'January 8:' Bojangles discovers his sonic powers and begins using them to survive. *'January 13:' Tanya Peters' father James leaves her mother for a younger woman. Alexandra Peters becomes bitter and hateful toward men, and begins teaching her daughter to hold the opposite sex in contempt. *'February 9:' Alex Quillion, a cancer patient from New Orleans, Louisiana, brings a lawsuit against the Diamond Corporation when the Spectrum Cure fails to cure his leukemia. The case is eventually settled out of court, but it brings to light the fact that the Spectrum Cure is effective against only 90% of all types of cancer. Some cancers (namely leukemia and cancers of the bone marrow) are not affected by the Spectrum Cure at all. 1988 CE *'June 3:' Mark "Rasputin" Tomalov is finally executed after a six-year stay granted by the Supreme Court. The "quick and humane" method of execution is a disintegration chamber invented by high-tech inventor/superhero Doctor Zero. *'November 15:' Phase One of the Damocles Directive concludes with the establishment of the Joshua Tree Detention Facility. 1989 CE *'January 30:' Phase Two of the Damocles Directive begins with the recruitment of Delta and Epsilon level Metahumans to test the capabilities of the compliance bracelets. *'March 13:' Kichiro Ito's parents are killed in a bus accident. He is forced to leave the University and take custody of his baby sister. *'April 7:' Alexandra Papantoniou, age 8, dies of renal failure when a Greek shipping magnate bribes a hospital official to get his son the kidney originally reserved for transplant into Alexandra. Yiannos, Alexadra's older sister, begins to use her teleporational powers to steal to support her family. *'May 23:' Brianna Mae Siegert is born in Rochester, Michigan. *'June 2:' Kichiro Ito joins the Tokyo Police Department *'September 18:' A team of doctors at Crestwick Hospital, in York, England, assisted by research previously performed by Lord Doom, perfect an HIV (AIDS) vaccine that not only kills the virus in an infected individual, but also prevents uninfected individuals from ever being infected. 1990 CE *'April 12:' Semeru is born in the jungles of Indonesian Borneo. *'April 20:' To the shock and amazement of the outside world, the armed forces of Gorilla City smash several company-sized units of Rwandan militia in response to attacks on small villages near the ape city. *'May 11:' Debbie Yuan is born in San Francisco, California. *'June 8:' Bojangles joins Prime 8, taking the name "Howler". *'August 5:' Bambi Takahana is born in Los Angeles, California. *'October 25:' Warin Ebensbach is sentenced to life imprisonment after many years of violent criminal activity. 1991 CE *'April 2:' Metallurgy, a member of Majestic and perhaps the most popular superhero in Great Britain, is diagnosed with a fatal blood illness that has apparently been caused by his own powers. A team of experts, including Dr. Kimberly Chase, are called in to search for a cure. *'May 8:' Ernesto and Ramon Costas meet Alex Vophang for the first time, and almost instantly become the closest of friends. *'June 30:' At 2:28 am, the central mainframe at Stanford's Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Palo Alto, California receives a coded signal from an unknown source that takes over the computer's sytems. The computer locks the building down, kills the three humans present using the building's halon fire suppression systems, and begins construction of the Omega Robot. 1992 CE *'April 10:' The collective Popik family buys the factory at which they were all employed. Under Hadeon Popik's guidance, the factory thrives. *'May 22:' Meta! magazine publishes an interview with Lord Doom. This interview, conducted over the Internet, reveals that Lord Doom is a fan of Stephen King novels, James Bond films, the music of Queen, and that his favorite meal is veal marsala. *'June 10:' Pawel Radomski graduates from the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt in Germany with a degree in Engineering. *'July 8:' In reaction to being constantly bullied at her school, Emily Warden's power to manipulate fear in other people manifests for the first time. *'July 9:' The Diamond Corporation begins production on a flexible "flat screen" computer keyboard than can be rolled up like a placemat and carried, thus ending the era of "tiny keyboards" on laptop computers and other devices. *'November 2:' **Despite the best efforts of the doctors trying to cure him, Metallurgy dies. **Members of Purity attack the annual conference of the Organization for African Unity in Kampala, Uganda. They are driven off by a loose coalition of African superheroes. 1993 CE *'February 8:' Kimberly Chase injects herself with a serum made from a sample of Metallurgy's blood, causing systematic mutations throughout her body. The pain of her transformation from flesh to living metal drives her mad, and she rampages through London. When she is finally caught, she is crucified in the press for "desecrating the memory of a beloved hero with Frankensteinian mad science". *'February 10:' **Kimberly Chase escapes from jail and goes underground. **Roma Lempke gains her powers when a large, glowing meteor crashes into her house in Hungary. *'February 11:' Calling herself "Csillag" ("Star", in Hungarian), Roma Lempke embarks on a crime spree, taking what she wants and not worrying about who she hurts. *'March 3:' Phase Three of the Damocles Directive is implemented with the development of newer compliance bracelets based on salvaged Xorn technology. After a long series of tests, the Directive begins recruitment of Beta-Level metahuman criminals. *'April 10:' Star's crime spree ends abruptly when she attempts to rob the Emperor of Tarot, who was in disguise at one of the banks he owns. Rather than kill the upstart, the Emperor offers Star a place in TAROT's Major Arcana. Not liking the alternative (a swift death), Star agrees to join. *'June 4:' Anibal Araujo graduates from the medical school at Federal University of Goias. Shortly thereafter she begins working as an epidemilogist for the Brazilian government. *'June 8:' Vittorio Fredi graduates from the University of Applied Science in Austria with a doctorate in geology. Shortly thereafter, he joins Lord Doom's scientific staff as a researcher. *'June 29:' An autographed copy of the Hero System write-up for Lord Doom, including penciled-in corrections, is auctioned on eBay for over $2000. *'August 17:' While working at a leprosy hospice in Nicaragua, Anibal Araujo has a confrontation with a squad of corrupt soldiers, who are stealing medicines and other supplies from the hospice. When the soldiers return shortly thereafter, intent on killing her, they are stopped by Reginald Wannsinger (Lord Doom). After her rescue, Anibal begins a whirlwind romance with the supervillain. 1994 CE *'February 9:' Federal agents raid the Hanson home, killing white-power separatist George Hanson before his son Billy Ray's eyes. *'April 12:' Ultra-Man reappears suddenly in the skies above modern day Ghent, having been thrown some fifty years into the future by one of Baron Maltus's superweapons. *'May 10:' The Diamond Corporation begins commercial production of the Traveler, a voice activated personal microcomputer that looks and is worn like a pair of sunglasses (the computer's interface is projected onto the inside of one of the lenses). In addition to having one hundred and sixty-four gigabytes of memory and sixteen gigabytes of RAM, the Traveler also functions pretty well as a pair of sunglasses. *'May 28:' While surveying the slopes of Mount Aetna for the perfect place to locate a geothermal power tap, Vittorio Fredi is caught in a landslide created by an unexpected eruption of the volcano. His latent metagene reacts with the environment, granting him control over earth and stone. Fredi accepts a position in Lord Doom's personal guard, taking the name Mongibello (the name by which Italians refer to Mount Aetna). *'August 20:' Anibal Araujo breaks off her love-affair with Reginald Wannsinger in order to concentrate more on her work as a doctor. *'October 4:' Pawel Radomski stumbles across evidence of his father's connection to the Russian Mob, as well as the depth of his father's involvement in human trafficking. *'October 5:' Continuing to investigate his own father, Pawel Radomski discovers evidence that his mother was murdered by his father. *'November 16:' Every member of the Dreamers, a loose-knit team of young superheroes operating in San Francisco, California, is killed when they are confronted by Omega in the robot's first public appearance. 1995 CE *'January 11:' Andres Demericot enters the doctoral program at De La Salle University in Manila. To help defray costs, he becomes a research assistant in the toxicology lab. *'August 5:' TAROT recruits Yiannos Papantoniou, who becomes the new Chariot. *'August 22:' For forty-eight hours across the evening sky around the world, a short manifesto written in blue-white light proclaims both the laws of U'tua the Gardener and the arrival of the Sol system's assigned Guardsman. The existence of such an organization as the Guardsmen is confirmed by the Tautiq and the surviving Xorn slave species. That the laws provide only for the survival of a sentient species, but not their freedom, explains in part why the Guardsmen stood by as the Xorn tried to turn Earth into a slave-planet. *'August 24:' Sol's new Guardsman, who reveals himself to be missing French soldier Pierre Montblanc, appears before the UN General Assembly to lay out Galactic Law as established by U'tua the Gardener. The representatives of several nations (most notably the People's Repubic of China) walk out of the meeting, declaring the whole thing a Western trick. *'September 1:' Aaron Ecklenberg is enrolled in the Rosewood School for Gifted Youths. Category:Background